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Klingon Bird-of-Prey
For the 22nd century vessel, see Klingon Bird-of-Prey (22nd century). The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was a type of warship utilized by the Klingon Empire servicing the Klingon Defense Forces from the late 23rd century into the late 24th century. Its design was characterized by its multi-position wings. It came in a variety of sizes, and some of the smaller types were capable of atmospheric flight and planetary landings. This type of craft, initially descended from its counterpart from a century earlier, was one of the most versatile warships employed by the Klingon, serving a variety of mission roles, including that of a scout, raider, patrol ship, and cruiser. History The Bird-of-Prey dates back to the mid-22nd century, when they were first encountered by Earth Starfleet, during a short confrontation on the edge of the Sol system in 2154. ( ) Starfleet continued to possess knowledge of the Bird-of-Prey during the 2280s. Hikaru Sulu was among those familiar with the class at that time, since he was capable of visually identifying a Bird-of-Prey, as well as being familiar with its crew complement. ( ) A well-publicized encounter with a Bird-of-Prey occurred in 2285, when a Bird-of-Prey commanded by Kruge conducted a mission to uncover the secrets of Project Genesis. After acquiring the information, the ship destroyed the Merchantman, and later the , before facing off against the in orbit of the Genesis Planet. Kruge ultimately lost the battle, and his ship, allowing James T. Kirk the privilege of Starfleet capturing its first Klingon Bird-of-Prey. ( ) This event was well documented in the events leading up to the court martial of Admiral Kirk, and was thereafter utilized for time traveling back to Earth's 20th century. ( ) :In an early storyboard proposal for ''Star Trek VI, Captain Montgomery Scott was in charge of disassembling the previously captured Bird-of-Prey for intelligence purposes.'' A few years later, the first Bird-of-Prey to ever breach the Great Barrier was commanded by Captain Klaa in 2287. ( ) The first Klingon Bird-of-Prey to ever be captured by Cardassia was commandeered in 2372 by Gul Dukat. ( ) For nearly a century, the Bird-of-Prey proved to be a rugged, sturdy design that saw continuous use. In that they were much like their Federation counterparts the ''Excelsior''- and starships, whose usefulness out-lived contemporaries such as the cruiser. (TNG; DS9) Despite the age of the Bird-of-Prey design by the 2370s, the ships fought valiantly during the Dominion War and featured in every battle of the conflict. Though the Bird-of-Prey design had been in service for nearly 100 years, constant upgrades ensured that the ships were still a powerful and capable front-line war ship. In the hands of a seasoned and aggressive commander, a K'vort-class Bird-of-Prey could engage multiple Dominion fighters and expect to come out victorious. ( ) Designations The Klingons applied several class designations to the different types of their Bird-of-Prey design, including the K'vort-class, B'rel-class and D12-class. The D12-class was retired from service by the 2350s due to faulty plasma coils, which were components of the cloaking systems. ( ) In fact, according to Gorta, finding one of these vessels with a working cloaking device was rather unique in 2370. ( ) By the 2360s, it was not uncommon to find a B'rel-class Bird-of-Prey stripped and relegated to a surplus yard. Ferengi DaiMon Lurin acquired two of these vessels, complete with cloaking devices, and managed to make them space worthy once again, after a few repairs and the addition of some weapons. ( ) :In an alternate timeline, the ''K'Vort-class was referred to as a battle cruiser, and was larger than its "prime universe" counterpart. While slower than the battleships of the era, in a 3:1 confrontation, a Galaxy-class would not be able to last long.'' ( ) :This class was known to be equipped with several escape pods, and saw use well into the 2370s. ( ) :Footage of the ''K'Vort-class was reused in both "Redemption" and "Rascals". In the latter appearance it was referred to as the B'Rel-class.'' Tactical Systems Birds-of-Prey typically featured forward firing wing-mounted disruptors and a nose-mounted forward-firing torpedo tube. The 23rd century type had a maximum weapons range of between 1,000 and 2,000 kellicams (2,000 and 4,000 kilometers), and its total effective firepower was 1/10 that of a cruiser. ( ) In the 24th century, at least one type was armed with phasers instead of disruptors and had a weapons range in excess of 40,000 kelicams (80,000 kilometers). ( ) Birds-of-Prey typically utilized cloaking devices. The first 23rd century models' cloak could permit the use of communications and/or the ship's transporters, but could not be kept up at the same time as the ship used its weapons systems. Also, the cloak left an "energy surge" that could be picked up on close-range sensor scans as a "distortion", tipping off an observant opponent to the vessel's presence. ( ; ) In the mid 2290s, an advanced Bird-of-Prey prototype was developed that could fire weapons from under cloak and did not display the characteristic "energy surge". However, that model cloak could not mask "neutron radiation" or high-energy plasma, such as the exhaust from the ship's impulse engines. ( ) Interior Design Main bridge Due to their age and variety of configurations, main bridge design for the Birds-of-Prey included numerous variations. The Bird-of-Prey encountered by the in 2285 over the Genesis Planet featured the chair of the commanding officer on a raised platform, providing the captain with visual access to the main view screen on eye level. From his position, he could visually monitor all stations located in front of him, including the helm, navigation and tactical consoles, located in a recessed "pit" around him. ( ) Three months later, the same ship featured an all-different bridge as Captain Kirk and his crew steered the vessel to Earth. In the center of the room was located the captain's chair, with the vessel course control stations located in front of it. Aft to the captain's right was located the communications console, while aft to the captain's left were located engineering and scientific monitoring stations. It is possible that the differences are the result of the reconstruction and repair of the ship during its three-month stay on Vulcan. ( ) One year later, the confronted a Bird-of-Prey with yet another layout, one difference being that it provided the commanding officer with a direct link to the starship's weapons systems. ( ) In 2293, General Chang commanded a prototype Bird-of-Prey that had the ability to fire its weapons while it was cloaked. Its bridge was similar to that of the previous Birds-of-Prey, though it had no consoles in front of Chang's command chair to obstruct his view of the main viewscreen, instead featuring the helm station behind the captain's chair. This unique helm station incorporated a large wheel for directional control rather than conventional console-based controls. ( ) Image:Klingon Bird-of-Prey bridge.jpg|Bird-of-Prey bridge in 2285 Image:Klingon Bird-of-Prey bridge -2287-.jpg|Bird-of-Prey bridge in 2287 Image:Klingon Bird-of-Prey bridge (2293).jpg|Bird-of-Prey bridge in 2293 Image:Klingon Bird-of-Prey bridge (2371).jpg|Bird-of-Prey bridge in 2371 Ships of the class ;Named: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Unnamed: * Unnamed Klingon Birds-of-Prey ** Chang's Bird-of-Prey ** Dukat's Bird-of-Prey ** Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey ** K'Vada's Bird-of-Prey ** Kang's Bird-of-Prey ** Klaa's Bird-of-Prey ** Kruge's Bird-of-Prey (aka [[HMS Bounty|HMS Bounty]]) ** Lurin's Bird-of-Prey Appendices Appearances * TOS films: ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** (K'vort-class) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (B'rel-class) ** * TNG films: ** (D12-class) * ** ** (mirror universe) ** ** ** ** ** ** (mirror universe) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** (K'vort-class; computer display) Behind the scenes The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was designed by ILM visual effects art directors Nilo Rodis and David Carson. Leonard Nimoy was involved in selecting the design concepts of the class, and Bill George built the prototype studio model for this vessel. In an early draft of the script, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey was originally to be a stolen Romulan vessel (the red "feather design" of the wings' underside was designed with the original Romulan Bird-of-Prey in mind), but that detail was dropped from the final draft. It would appear that the wings of Birds-of-Prey could be modulated. In Star Trek III, Star Trek IV, Star Trek V and Star Trek VI the wings are lowered in attack mode and lifted to a great degree as part of its landing sequence. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the K'Vort-class battle cruisers maintain their wings in a slightly elevated position when in attack mode. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine this seems to have been reversed back to the original movie concept, i.e., the wings are lowered in attack mode. Behind the scenes sources indicate that the mechanism on the original model that allowed the wings to move broke down, and it wasn't until the switch to computer generated models that the alternate modes came back into use. ''Technical Manual'' The following information of specifications and defenses comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual: ;B'rel-class: * Production Base: Qo'noS Orbital Factory Base * Accommodation: 12 plus flight crew and troops * Power Plant: One matter/antimatter warp system; two impulse system * Dimensions: ** Length: 157.76 meters ** Beam: 181.54 meters ** Height: 98.54 meters * Mass: 236,000 metric tons * Armament: Two ship-mounted disruptor cannons; one torpedo launcher * Performance: Warp 9.6 ;K'Vort-class: * Production Base: Qo'noS Orbital Factory Base * Accommodation: 1,500+ flight crew and troops * Power Plant: One matter/antimatter warp system; two impulse system * Dimensions: ** Length: 678.36 meters ** Beam: 780.62 meters ** Height: 423.72 meters * Mass: 1,890,000 metric tons * Armament: Four ship-mounted disruptor cannons; two torpedo launchers * Performance: Warp 9.6 Finally, while the Technical Manual itself is not canon, it is a Memory Alpha permitted resource. Resources Additional reading * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual * Star Trek: Starship Spotter Related links * Mirror universe starships * Klingon starship classes * Klingon starships External links * - an analysis of the size discrepancies of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey * Fan-produced Bird-of Prey Schematics Category:Klingon starship classes de:Klingonischer Bird-of-Prey nl:Klingon Roofvogel